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A weekly letter, from a small team, about the patch you live on.
One Issue piece, two Field Notes, one thing to try in your patch. About four minutes to read. Sundays.
What you get
backyard.bio is a small nature journal about the ground under your feet. We write about the plants and animals that share whatever patch you live on — a yard, a balcony, a windowsill, a schoolyard, a half-acre. The writing is for people who want to participate in the ecology of where they live, not as a lecture or a self-help program but as a quiet daily practice of paying attention.
The letter goes out on Sunday mornings. One Issue piece from a longer themed series, two Field Notes — the shorter, more observational pieces — and one specific thing to try in your patch that week. That's it. No promotional copy, no growth tactics, no "subscribers-only bonus content" gating.
The letter is free, and our intention is to keep it that way. We don't run ads. We don't sell email addresses. We're a small operation that thinks a calm, honest weekly letter is a thing worth making, and that's the whole pitch.
Here's what arrives
Sunday, June 8
From the editors
The serviceberries opened this week. If you have one within walking distance of where you live, this is the time to go look at it — both for the bloom, which is brief, and for the pollinators that show up while it's open.
From the Issue · The Oak Question
If you only plant one thing, plant an oak.
A 477-species tree explained, plain. Why the math is so good it almost feels like a trick.
Field Note · Saw
The first bee of the year was a mining bee.
Smaller than a honeybee. Came out of a hole in the ground in the gravel by the driveway.
Field Note · Practice
Leave the leaves.
The single highest-leverage thing you can do for your patch costs nothing. You stop doing something.
Try this week
Sit with one plant for ten minutes.
Pick one thing growing in your patch. Sit beside it. Don't do anything. See what shows up.
— The editors
Get the letter
Sundays. About four minutes.
Free, and our intention is to keep it that way.
A few honest notes
Privacy. We use your email to send you the letter and your ZIP to know roughly where you live. That's it. We don't share or sell either to anyone, ever. We don't run ads.
Unsubscribing. Every letter has a one-click unsubscribe link at the bottom. If you change your mind, leave whenever you want, no friction. We'd rather you read us when you want to than feel trapped on the list.
About us. backyard.bio is a small, slow publication run by real people. We answer reader email. We make changes when readers tell us to. If you write to us, we'll write back.